MIAMI (CBSMiami) — If an automatic two percent cut to Medicare spending goes through, Florida would lose 55,340 jobs by 2021. That news comes from a study released Sep. 12.

According to the South Florida Business Journal, Florida would be the second-hardest-hit state in the U.S., losing 35,827 jobs in 2013 and 55,340 by 2021, including direct employment, indirect employment and induced employment.

Nationwide, the study projects 496,429 job losses in 2013 and 766,808 in 2021.

The Budget Control Act of 2011 requires an agreement on deficit reduction to be reached or for sequestration, automatic 2 percent cuts to Medicare spending, to cut $10.7 billion from Medicare in 2013 and $16.4 billion in 2021.

The study was done by the Tripp Umbach firm and can be downloaded here. The study was funded by the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, and was released at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

The South Florida Business Journal contributed material for this report.

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